Car-door spreader.



R. V. SAGE.

GAR DOOR SPRBADER. n APPLICATION FILED JUNI; 7, 191s.

1,077,561, Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

9( gyn?.

il., glia .eateries earners ernten V. SAGE, 0F WEST'MONT BOROUGH,PENNSYLVANIA.

CAPwDOOB SPREADER.

Snecication of Letters Batent.

27o-@ZZ whom t may concer/t Be it known that I, RALPH V. SAGE, a citizenoi the United States, residing in the borough of Viestmont, in thecounty of Y Cambria and State of Pennsylavnia, have operating mechanismthereof, and to giveto such bar a special forni which will havegreatst-rength and rigidity relative'to the amount of metal thereof.

My invention is particularly adapted for use with hopper bottom cars,either of the regular hopper type, or of the hopper bottom gondola typein which the 4doors extend below the center sills' ot the car on eachside thereorn and are connected together in pairs by means of aspreader-bar, the ends of which are secured to the doors on each sideot' the center sills; the central portion 'of said spreader-bar beingadapted to pass under the center sills of the car, at which. point alinlr or other connection to the' door operating mechanism 'is secured.y

Where a flange extends around the outer edge of the car door, which isusually the case, itis preferable to arch or oitset the central portionof the spreader-bar so the said ilanges of the door remain whole and notcut away, thereby preserving its strength and stiffness.

Heretot'ore spreader-bars have been con.- structed either of a. sheet ofmetal pressed into the regular fornnor of a rolled bar of beam orchannel cross sect-ion cut into suit not been found to be altogethersatisfactory',

either on account of their not being suii c iently rigid, andcoiisequently liable' tobcome twisted, or on account ot the fact that itheir' construction is such that they cannot be provided with properattachments to, and

bracing facilities for, the door, aindllliyfin- Patented Nov. le 1913.

Application led .Tune 7, 1913. Serial No. 772,233. i

vention is designed to obviate these'diiiiv culties.

I 'construct my spreader-bar of castl metalI of substantially U-shape incross section, the

bar being arched or loffset at its center' to thereby pass or` clear theanges of each door, and l maire my spreader-bar of thefish-belliedtype,`-that is, of greater depth at its center and taperinggradually toward each end. The ends of my spreader-bar are attached tothe swingingdoors, the legs of said spreader-bar extending outwardlytherefrom.: ',ntegral lstiiieni-ng brackets project rearwardly from thespreader-bar toward the-hinged' edges of the doors near the inner sideof each door and are riveted thereto, thereby forming'a rigid'connectionbetween the door and the spreader-bar, at the same timel bracing theseparts 4together and preventing twisting or distortion-'of thespreader-bar and the doors. To stillen the spreader-bar I -casttransverse webs integral with the bar connecting the legs atintermediate points and at the ends thereof, and alon the longitudinalouter edges, the ends of t e legs of the bar vare thickened or flanged,which flanges may extend the entire length of the bar, or nearly to theendsof the bar, as shown in the' drawings.v The central part of thespreader-bar is formed as a 'substantially box-shaped structure with aperforation in its top and bottom 'walh" whereby an eye bolt, or otherconnection, may be secured, to which a link or other at tachment to thedoor operating mechanism maybe made. Y

The construction of a spreader-bar of cast metal in accordance with myinvention enables meto distribute the metal to the best possibleadvantage, to meet the stresses-to which it is subjected, and the bar isof great strength and rigidity, and one which can be easily attached tothe doors. The integral bracket flange connection, 'near the. inner edgeof each door, forms a reinforcement at-the weakest point of attachmentand also braces the door' while the central perforated box-shapedstructure provides an easy means for attachment thereto of the link orother connection from the door opera-ting mechanism.

ldavin'g thus given a general description of my invention, I will now,in order to malte" the same'more clear, refer to the accompanying onesheet of drawings forming part of this specification, in which of thespreader-bar taken on the line 'VL-VI of Fig. 4 through the central box-Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional elevation on an enlargedscale taken on the line I-I of Fig. 2, through the lower hopperportionof a car showing a pair of oppositely swinging doors in closedy pos1-tion, and ,my spreader-bar in section, at-

tached to the forward edge of each, and also showing enough of theadjoiningcar structure to clearly illustrate the application of myinvention. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional elevation -takenonthe line Il-II of Fig. 1,l showing they lower portion of a car, thehoppers of which extend downwardly on each side of the center sills, anda pair of similar swinging doors adapted to close the bottom thereof,-together with my improved spreader-bar connecting and supporting thedoors in cooperationl with the door operating mechanism. Fig. 3is adetached'top plan viewof my improved spreader-bar; Fig. 4 is a' sideelevation-thereof,and Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view 'of the spreader-bar.Fig. 6

is a vertical transverse sectional elevation shaped portion of the bar,and Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse sectional elevation taken on theli'ne Vil-VII of Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrows. i

Referring now to the numbers of refer-v ence on the drawings z--lindicates the center lsills of the carl and 2' the sides` thereof.Hopper sheets 3-are attached to, and eX- tend downwardly below, thebottom edges ofthe car sides, and also extend below the center sills ofthe car, while the .doors 4 are hinged at 5 to the bottom edges of thehopperv mouths and form the closures 'for the same.

To complete thel illustration, two hoppers are shown on the drawings,each hopper together by my improved spreader-bar1 6,

although it will be understood that-the doors' having a pair of swingingdoors connected may be differently disposed, either transversely orlongitudinally of the car, without ldeparting from the spirit of myinvention. 1

My spreader-bar 6 .is substantially U- shaped in cross-section, the legsthereof being of greater depth in the central portion, while the bar isarched o r oifset as at.

7 and tapers gradually, or becomes ,sha1- lower, toward eachend. Thelegs and top. of the bar are connected together centrally,intermediately and .at the ends by transverse webs 8, 9, .and 10 resectively, the lower face of the bar being. 'o't erwise open,

Vwith the exception of a nut bearin surface 11, which connects thecentralwe y8 and the Aendsof the U-sh'apedlegs together andv and taperinforms a substantially rectangular boxshaped structure at this point.

Perforations extendthrough the nut bearing surface 11, as at 12,. andalso through the top oifset ortion of the bar as at 13, with lateralstiening flanges 14 of segmental outline extending fromeither side ofthe face of the bar at this point, for the purpose'of reinforcing thesame and forming a better bearing for the head .of the eye bolt v15.Along the ends of the legs of the bar on the outside thereof is athickening or flan e 16 which extends nearly to the ends of the bar.

The upper surfaces 17 of the tapered ends of the spreader-bar are Hatand perforated in various places, as shownA at 18, and form the surfaceswhich bear against the car doors on the outside thereof. Reinforcingbrackets 19, having perforated bearing surfaces, eX-

tend' from one side of, -and on the same plane as, the upper surfaces17, and are similarly' perforated las -at Q0. These brackets 1 9 extendrearwardly and are attached to the doors near the inner side edgesings.y

While l have shown anddescribed my invention in considerable detail, Ido not wish to be limited to the exact construction specified, but may-use such substitutions, modifications or equivalents thereof, las areembraced within the scope of my invention. as pointed out in the'clams.

Having thus described my inventiomwhat I claim and desire to secure byLetters-Patent is 1,. In a dumpingv car, a pair of hinged doors thereon,a cast spreader-bar substantially U-shaped in cross section, secured to,

and connecting said pair of doors, the legs of said U-shaped bar beingconnected together .at intervals by webs formed. integral therewith.

2. In a dumping car, a plurality of hinged doors thereon, a castspreader-bar substan-l tially-U-shaped in cross section, securedto, andconnecting said hinged doors, said U- shaped bar being of greatest depth'centrally gradually' toward 'each' end, and provide with integra'lwebsconnecting .thelegs of saidrU-shaped bar.

3. In dumping car, a plurality of hinged doors thereon, a spreader-'barsubstantially U-shaped in cross section, secured to, and connecting saidplurality of doors, integral webs connecting the legs of the U-shapedbar, said bar having an arched r offset central portion ,and taperingend portions.

et. In a dumping car, a plurality of hinged doors thereon, aspreader-bar substantially U-shaped in cross section, integral webconnections between the legs of the U-shaped bar, said spreader-barhaving an otlset central portion and tapering end portions, the upperfaces' of said 'tapering end portions being fiat and connected to saiddoors.

5. In a. dumping car, a plurality of alined hinged doors thereon,@spreader-bar substantially U-shaped in cross section, transverse webconnections between' the legs o1 the U-shaped bar, said U-shaped harhaving an oiiset` central portion and tapering end portions, the upper`face of said tapering end portions being straight, perforations in thestraight faces of the end portions and aperforated integral bracketextending laterally from said end portions, whereby said bar isconnected -to said doors.

6. In a dumping car, a plurality of alined hinged doors thereon. aspreader-bar substantially' U-shaped in cross section, secured to, andconnecting said hinged doors, transverse web `connections between thelegs of the U-shaped bar, said bar having an offset central portion andtapering end portions, the edges of the legs of said U-shaped .bar beingthickened or flanged.

7. In a dumping car, a plurality of alined hinged doors thereon, aspreader-bar substantially U-shaped in cross section, integral flangesextending from the edges of the legs of said U-shaped bar, transverseweb connections between the legs thereof, said'bar having an odsetcentral portion and taper- F ing end portions, the upper faces of thetapering end portions being plane' and perforated, a perforated integralbracket extending laterally from each of said end portions, and meansfor securing the spreaderb'ar to said doors through the saidperforations.

8. In a dumping car, a plurality of alined doors hinged thereon, aspreader-bar substantially U-shaped in cross section, secured to, andconnecting said doors, integral webs connecting the legs of the centralportion of the bar, the central portion of the ends of the legs and theends of the adjacent webs being connected integrally, forming a nutbearing surface.

9. In. a dumping car, a plurality of alined doors hinged thereon, aspreader-bar substantially U-shaped in cross section, secured to, andconnecting said doors, transverse webs connecting the legs thereofadjacent to the central portion of the bar, the ends of the legs of theU-shaped bar and the ends of the adjacent webs being integrally con-.

nected, thus forming a nut bearing surface, a perforation in the nutbearing surface and in the top surface of the bar in vertical alinement,and lateral curved anges extending from the top of the bar on eitherside of the perforation.

10. In a dumpingy car, a plurality of alined hinged doors thereon,aspreader-bar substantially U-shaped in cross section, integral flangesextending from the outer edges of the legs of said U-shaped bar,transverse webs connecting the legs of the U-shaped bar centrally, thecentral portion of the edges of the legs of the bar and the edges oft-he adjacent central transverse webs being connected integrally,thereby forming a nut bearing surface, said bar having an offset centralportion and tapering end portions, the upper faces of the tapering endportions being plane, perforations in the plane faces of the endportions, and a perforated bracket extending laterally from each of saidend portions, its upper face being in the same plane therewith, andmeans for connecting said bar to the doors through said perforations.

11. A one-piece cast spreader-bar of approximately U-section, with angesextending laterally in a plane from the end portions thereof, bracketsforming extensions of said flanges, the central portion of said barbeing offset and provided with means for attachment to the operatingmechanism.

In testimony whereof I hereto aix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

RALPH v. SAGE. f

Witnesses:

ELMER SEAVEY, E. M. DAWSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by ,addressingthe Commissioner of Yatents.

Washington, D. C.

